Unter der Linse: Maßgeschneiderter Bau

Four Ways We Do Built-to-suite Differently With Bert Hesselink, CTP’s Group Client Relationship Director 

CTP’s largest source of new business has always been the growth of our existing clients, and we grow a lot together. Their businesses simply do well in our space and with our business approach. I credit this largely to our ability to listen to and react to our clients’ needs. While CTP customizes every single building before a client moves in (“take it as-is or leave it” is not in our business repertoire), we also handle a lot of ground-up, Built-to-Suit projects.

What is BTS? In real estate, Build-to-Suit (BTS) refers to a development approach where a property is designed and constructed to meet the specific needs of a tenant. This arrangement ensures that the building aligns with the occupant’s operational requirements, often under a long-term lease agreement. It is commonly used terminology in industrial & logistics real estate.

Since the start of my real estate career, one of the biggest changes I’ve observed is that occupiers are shifting away from ownership and opting to rent instead. As a result, there’s a growing volume of occupiers moving on the market and every year I see more and more clients asking for customized real estate solutions to rent.

Here are the four ways I think CTP’s approach to BTS is one-of-a-kind.

1. Prime Locations, Ready When You Are 

You know it and we know it – finding good land and obtaining permits can be hard. This is why CTP’s land scouting capabilities and extensive landbank are a very treasured part of CTP’s value proposition to clients.

We have a robust landbank (over 27.1 million sqm), but not just any landbank. Nearly 60% of it is in existing, proven, up-and-running, fully serviced parks. The remaining landbank is in very carefully selected strategic long-term sustainable and future-proof locations (remember, we are the long-term owners of our land so you can trust us to think twice about where we are investing).

We are able to build speculatively where we see demand coming, so we have a portfolio that is partially built and can be adapted to your exact business needs. Normally, about 95% of our buildings are leased out by the time they’re completed.

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2. Speed and Security

We understand this is a common client concern when embarking on a project – you make the strategic decision and then you want to move in as soon as possible, not wait around on financing, piecing together sliced land, or getting tangled in red tape permits. We’re proud to provide the agility of a small company to act fast but also provide the assurance of a corporation. This brings two big benefits to our clients.

First – we have an in-house team to cover the entire process: location advising, permitting, design, construction, and aftercare management and upgrades. This enables fast, frictionless delivery.

Second – CTP has our own financing for our projects. That means no waiting around on banks.

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3. Smart, Customizable Building Types

Over the last 25 years, CTP has been developing, testing, and improving our buildings. The learnt results have been baked into our five core building types, each with standards to fit common business cases.

Each building type provides set standards but allows for high customization where it matters most. This allows us to roll out best practices fast and adapt easily to clients’ needs.

It’s all about striking the perfect balance between universal needs and holding the right space for customizations.

4. Plug and Play Approach

We know real estate is not just brick and mortar, and this is why we enjoy being Parkmakers. A real estate solution is a business’s home and must be connected to reach full vitality. Because CTP is a two-in-one business, a developer and a manager, we take an integrated approach to make the connections you need. Beyond designing, construction and park infrastructure care, we can help you with permits and continue to be your business partner during the entire life cycle of your company’s investments in a location.

Since we build to own, having good relationships with neighbours and local partners is extra important. We help you sync into the local business environment, connecting you with regional stakeholders such as local authorities, recruitment agencies, and technical schools.

Moving Forward

There you have it—I’ve shared some of CTP’s BTS formula: prime locations, speed, reliability, in-house expertise, and comprehensive service to help our clients hit the ground running, when and where they need to.

We don’t claim to know everything—every client is unique, and we’re always improving our best practices. But, what we are claiming is that we embrace the challenge of learning and using what we learn to step even higher for the next BTS projects we get.